Semiya/Vermicelli Kesari

I wonder how I missed posting on this often prepared sweet (at our home) because it is Kundan’s favorite and mine also because it is not painstaking. I have shared my usual recipe but photos that I clicked today feature a milk-free kesari (As I ran short of milk today). Without milk the sweet is good enough but adding milk makes it richer and brighter and tastier.

Serves: 2

Preparation Time: Nil

Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

1.      Semiya or Vermicelli – 1 cup

2.    Sugar – ½ cup

3.    Water – 1 ½ cup

4.    Milk – 1 cup

5.     Salt – 1 pinch

6.    Cardamom powder – ¼ tsp

7.     Kesar color – 1 pinch

8.    Cashew nuts – 1 tbsp

9.    Ghee – 2 tbsp

Method:

Step 1: In a non-stick pan with a spoon of ghee roast cashew nuts, drain ghee and keep them aside.

Step 2: In the same pan, roast the vermicelli until the beautiful aroma comes out of it.

Step 3: Add water, kesar color and a pinch of salt; when the water is absorbed add milk into it and cook on simmer.

Step 4: Add sugar, cardamom powder and a spoon of ghee and mix well; adjust sugar if required and turn off heat.

Step 5: Garnish with roasted cashew nuts and serve hot.

Shahi Tukda

Shahi tukda is a famous gilt-edged dessert from north India. I made it as an instant dessert for my sweet toothed husband, so it is not the typical one but a easy and relatively healthy variant, I would say.

Ingredients:

1. Bread slices - 4
2. Gulkand - 3 tbsp
3. Butter/ Ghee - 2 tbsp
4. Almonds - a fistful
5. Milk - 250 ml.
6. Sugar - 2 tbsp
7. Cardamom powder - 2 pinches
8. Slivered or chopped nuts - 1 tbsp
9. Rose petals (Optional)

Method:

Step 1: Soak almonds in water for an hour and peel off the skin. Make it into a paste with some milk.
Step 2: Trim the edges of the bread slices by stacking them; then diagonally cut them to get symmetrical triangles.
Step 3: Smear ghee or butter generously on both the sides of the bread triangles and roast them on a simmered tawa to get crisp golden brown toasts; keep working on them so that they don't become tough and rusk-like.
Step 4: Bring the milk to boil and simmer to reduce it; once it becomes thick flavorful, add the almond paste, sugar and cardamom powder and reduce further until it gets a very thick flowy consistency.
Step 5: Now make four triangular gulkand sandwiches with thick layer of juicy gulkand.
Step 6:Arrange the sandwiches in the serving plate and pour the reduced flavored milk over them.
Step 7: Top with the slivered or chopped nuts.
Step 8: Serve as is or garnish with rose petals if available.

TIPS:
* The gulkand can be fried slightly if it is to thick to smear on bread; it contains sugar which loosens on heating.
* The traditional recipe requires the breads to be deep fried in ghee or oil and dipped in sugar syrup.
* You can roast the bread in microwave oven to get it evely roasted and it also helps to keep nil or minimum butter/ ghee.

Rice Kheer

I am starting the new year with an usual sweet, that I had prepared to share with neighbors and friends around. This is one sweet that we don't get bored with, so most festivals and occasions run on this dessert. 

Ingredients:

1. Milk - 1 lt

2. Water - 1/2 lt

3. Salt - 1 pinch

4. Jeera rice - 1 1/2 cups

5. Sugar - 1 cup

6. Melon seeds - 4 tbsp

7. Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp

Method:

Step 1: Wash and soak the rice in water for 15 minutes.

Step 2: Bring to boil half a liter milk mixed with half a liter water with a pinch of salt.

Step 3: Simmer the stove and add the drained rice and let it cook; stir occasionally. This may take 20 minutes time approximately.

Step 4: Once the rice is cooked well, add sugar and melon seeds. You can roast the melon seeds in ghee if you want, I prefer to add them raw.

Step 5: Let it cook for more 5 minutes and then turn off stove. Mix in cardamom powder. 

Step 6: Serve hot or chilled.

TIPS:
* The consistency thickens on cooling, you can dilute with milk while serving.
*. My mom does not add cardamom as jeera rice has its unique flavor. Flavoring is optional, and rose flavor also suits well for this kheer.
* Basmati rice can be used if jeera rice is unavailable.
* Nuts like almonds or cashews can be slivered and replaced for melon seeds. As few desserts use melon seeds, I use them wherever applicable.

Strawberry Custard Pudding

Custards are harmless desserts, I mean it is as good as a milk shake without grease or loads of sugar. We can enhance its goodness with fresh fruits and flavours. I use china grass alias agar-agar as the solidifying agent, it is a vegetarian substitute for gelatin and I learn it has certain health benefits as well.

Ingredients:

1. Milk - 1/2 litre
2. Sugar - 4 tbsp
3. Custard powder - 2 tbsp
4. Strawberry - 8-10
5.Strawberry essence - few drops (Skip if your custard powder is flavoured or you don't have essence)
6. China grass - 1 tbsp (if it is available as strands take say 5-6 of them)

Method:

Step 1: Boil milk with sugar in a thick bottomed pan.
Step 2: In  few spoons of cold milk dissolve the custard powder.
Step 3: Boil  1/4 cup water in a cup and dissolve china grass in it. Strain it if necessary.
Step 4: Slowly pour the custard mix into the boiling milk and keep stirring to avoid formation of lumps. Add essence if you are using it.
Step 5: Switch off the stove and pour the dissolved china grass into the custard. Let it cool down for sometime.
Step 6: In the mean time wash and cut some strawberry slices and arrange them flat in the bowl you are going to set the custard.
Step 7: Chop or pulp the rest of the strawberries and mix it in the custard.
Step 8: Pour the custard slowly into the bowl and set it for at least 6 hours.
Step 9: Take a big plate whose circumference is larger than the custard bowl's; cover the plate upside down over the bowl and now topple it. Tap slightly if it is not coming onto the plate.

TIPS:
* Pineapple/ Raspberry/ Mango and Vanilla are other common flavours of custard pudding. Caramel forms the crust for vanilla flavour instead of fruits.
* The stiffness of custard pudding depends on amount of china grass used and creaminess depends on custard powder and milk.
* Use bowls without inside grooves else the fruits don't stay in place, also while sliding out they may get broken.

Plain Banana Ckae

The other day I had baked a banana cake. I bake cakes in a pressure cooker on stove and they come out really well. I used less sugar expecting the bananas to be very sweet but the cake was less sweet; however I have given the corrected measure.

Ingredients:

1. All purpose flour - 1 cup

2. Sugar - 1 1/2 cups

3. Banana - 5 small or 2 big

4.Butter - 3/4 cup

5. Baking powder - 1 tsp

6. Baking soda - 1 pinch

7. Vanilla essence - 2 drops

Method:

Step 1: Sift the flour, baking powder and baking soda in a bowl.

Step 2: Beat softened butter and sugar into a smooth paste and add mashed or pureed banana and vanilla essence to it and mix well.

Step 3: Grease and dust a baking tin and preheat the oven or cooker.

Step 4: Fold the dry ingredients in the wet mixture and mix thoroughly, add few drops of milk if the consistency is too thick.

Step 5: Pour the batter into the cake tin and bake for 20-30 minutes.

TIPS:
* Coco powder can also be added to banana cake to give added flavor and color.
* Add nuts of your choice or some raisins or tutti fruitti.

Banana Avocado Mousse

This is another avocado mousse I had tried yesterday. This avocado mousse is very tasty and is pretty healthy too. That's the reason I keep repeating it, both of us loved the taste. And you know what, this is damn simple a dessert.

Ingredients:

1. Avocado - 1
2. Small banana - 2
3. Sugar - 1 tbsp
4. Vanilla essence - 2 drops

Method:

Step 1: Peel the riped banana, chop them and mash it in the mixer jar.
Step 2: To the jar, add sugar, vanilla essence, scooped avocado and whip them to a smooth consistency.
Step 3: Chill it until serving.
Step 4: Have it plain as this is flavorsome with vanilla, banana and avocado. If you prefer, garnish with nuts or banana slices.

Avocado Chocolate Mousse

I got some avocados from Bangalore when we went to visit my new niece Anishka. I wanted to try recipes apart from milkshake because we've had them earlier and mousse is something I had tried earlier and did not work out very well; but with avocado it should work fine. It did turn out well...

Ingredients:

1. Ripe avocado - 1

2. Dates - 5

3. Cocoa powder - 3 tbsp

4. Hershey's chocolate syrup - 2 tbsp

Method:

Step 1: Soak the seedless dates in some warm water for 10 minutes.

Step 2: Scoop the pulp from the butter fruit into a mixer jar.

Step 3: Drain water from the dates and add it into the jar. 

Step 4: Add cocoa powder, 1 tablespoon chocolate syrup and whip well until all the ingredients blends smooth. If the sweetness is not enough, add more chocolate syrup or some sugar and blend again.

Step 5: Spoon them into bowl and chill it until serving.

Step 6: Garnish with chocolate syrup or strawberry or nuts of your choice.

Besan Ladoo

This recipe is an adaptation from www.nishamadhulika.com. I had tried this recipe a couple of times earlier too but for Diwali I attempted this tried and tested recipe:)

Original recipe Source: Nishamadhulika.com

Ingredients:

1. Gram flour - 500 gm
2. Sugar - 500 gm
3. Ghee - 400 gm
4. Cashew nuts - 50 gm
5. Cardamom powder - 1 tsp

Method:

Step 1: The first step is to prepare bura. To prepare this, heat a heavy bottomed pan add sugar and half a cup of water and stir continuously. After about 10-15 minutes you'll feel the sugar solidifying on the outer rim; at this point switch off the heat and let it cool by stirring. On doing this for about 15 minutes you'll get sugary powder. This is just the dissolved and recrystallized sugar in a uniform and finer texture that we call bura.

Step 2: Roast broken cashew nuts with some ghee in  a heavy bottomed pan and keep it aside.
Step 3: In the same pan, melt the rest of the ghee in low heat and add gram flour to it and roast until aroma emanates and turns slightly brownish. Switch off the heat and let it cool a bit.

Step 4: Now in a big mixing tray or bowl, add bura, roasted gram flour cardamom powder, cashew nuts and mix thoroughly. The gram flour should be slightly warm to press ladoos.

Step 5: Take a ladle full of this mixture in your palm and press and roll continuously until you get a nice round ladoo. Repeat until the mixture is done.

Tips:
* If the ladoo is not staying in form, heat some more ghee and add to the mixture.
* You can use almonds instead of cashews.
* You can place whole nuts at the center of the ladoo or even press one at the top of it.

Sweet Atta Paddu

I really don’t know what to call this. I wanted to do a savory and sweet for aayutha pooja and punjabi puda inspired from dassana was the sweet I tried; but it totally took a different form later during my trial; hence I named it paddu.

Original recipe Source: vegrecipesofindia.com

Ingredients:

1.       Wheat flour -1 cup

2.       Semolina – 2 tbsp

3.       Salt – 1 pinch

4.       Jaggery/ Sugar – ½ cup

5.       Fennel seeds – 1 tbsp

6.       Raisins – 2 tbsp

7.       Ghee – 1 tbsp

8.       Oil to fry

Method:

Step 1: Mix all ingredients from 1-7 in a bowl using water to a pakora batter consistency.

Step 2: Heat oil in the pan and spoon batter into it, few at a time.

Step 3: Alternatively you can prepare them in a kuzhiyappakal shown in the picture if you have one or use tawa to prepare them like pancakes.

Samba Wheat Halwa

I won't call this an extraordinary dessert but it definitely caters another interesting and healthy number to sweet-toothed persons like my husband. The suitability of samba wheat for halwa is ironical, it is stiff and chewy even after cooking while we are used to eating gooey halwas; the beauty is, because of these very tendencies they absorb less ghee and sugar and still keep the halwa sweet .

Ingredients:

1.       Samba rava – 1 cup

2.       Milk – 1 cup

3.       Sugar – ¼ cup

4.       Cardamom powder – ½ tsp

5.       Almonds – 2 tbsp chopped

6.       Raisins – 2 tbsp

7.       Ghee – 2 tbsp

Method:

Step 1: Roast the samba wheat rava in a non-stick pan with a spoon of ghee until the aroma starts coming out.

Step 2: Add milk and cover and cook until the rava is cooked by stirring occasionally.

Step 3: Add sugar, cardamom powder and stir until the mass leaves the sides of the pan

Step 4: Garnish with chopped almonds, raisins and serve hot drizzling another spoon of ghee.

Banana Marble Cake

I wanted to try this banana marble cake that I hit on some blog and I liked it mainly because I don't have to do anything above it to make it look good. I was drawn by the marble design on its surface and the simplicity of the recipe itself. My neighbor complemented me for the cake and is looking forward to the blog :)

Ingredients: 

1. Maida - 1 cup Powdered Sugar - 1/2 cup
2. Baking powder - 1 tsp
3. Salt - 1 pinch
4. Coco powder - 1 tbsp
5. Butter/ oil - 1/4 cup
6. Banana pulp - 1 cup

                                

Method:

     Step 1: Sift maida and baking powder; add banana pulp, sugar, salt, oil and mix well

     Step 2: Take half the batter in a separate cup and mix coco powder

     Step 3: Preheat the oven; grease and dust the cake pan

    

                            

                               

Step 4: Now pour both the batters alternately and finally with a skewer or knife circle in the batter to get the marble design pattern
Step 5: Bake it in oven or pressure cooker for 20 minutes. Check with a toothpick before turning off heat.
Step 6: Cool it a bit before cutting and serving.

Bread Halwa

There are several versions of bread halwa and all of them are very yummy. You can make them with bread crumbs or dry breads or with deep fried bread pieces; use less ghee or more; use milk or not; it turns out differently with these variations yet very tasty. It's a handy recipe for quick desserts.

 

Serves: 5 scoops 

Preparation Time: Nil

Cooking Time: 15 min

Ingredients: 

1.     Bread crumbs – 1 cup

2.     Milk – 1 cup

3.     Sugar – ½ cup

4.     Cardamom powder – ¼ tsp

5.     Ghee – 2 tbsp

              6.     Cashew – 2 tbsp

Method:

Step 1: In a non-stick pan, heat 1 tbsp of ghee and roast cashews in it. Drain cashews and fry the bread crumbs in that.

Step 2: Add milk to this and simmer the heat; stir occasionally to avoid burning and once the milk is absorbed, add sugar and stir.

Step 3: Now add cardamom powder and 1 tbsp ghee and stir until sides of the pan are clean.

Step 4: Garnish with roasted nuts and serve hot. It is good when chilled as well.

Apple Sauce

Last week I happened to take some antibiotics due to which I had a bad stomach. I was starving and  foraging for some diet for such condition and came across what seemed to be an universal belief, BARB diet; (Bread, Apple Sauce, Rice, Banana). I was curious to try this apple sauce and did so. Believe me it was yum, indeed.

Ingredients:

1. Apples - 3
2. Sugar - 1/2 cup (I used jaggery)
3. Cinnamon powder - 1/4 tsp
4. Lemon - 1
5. Water - 1/2 cup

Method:

Step 1: Wash, peel and core the apples. Cut them into wedges
Step 2: In a non stick pan, add apple wedges, jaggery/sugar, juice of a lemon (adjust depending on the sourness of the apples), cinnamon powder and water
Step 3: Mix well and heat on low flame until the apple is soft to be mashed
Step 4: Switch of the stove; with the help of a potato masher, mash the apple nicely or with some chunks if you prefer
Step 5: Serve it hot or warm or cold. In refrigerator it can stay for a week. (We finished in a couple of days though)

Yoghurt Shrikand

These days we hear a lot about yogurt desserts replacing ice-creams for the health reason. Not only are they healthy but these are also relatively easy to prepare at home, in fact even instantly or an hour before serving unlike ice creams or kulfis.

Ingredients:

1.       Curd – 2 cups (Yogurt if available)

2.       Sugar – 4 tbsp

3.       Fruit of your choice – ½ cup chopped (Mango and strawberry are my favorites)

4.       Chopped fruits to garnish

Method:

Step 1: If you are using curds, drain it in a muslin cloth; tie and hang it in the sink faucet for 1 hour or more.

Step 2: Powder the sugar if you are using sugar granules in a mixer and then in the same jar add chopped fruits and puree it, now scoop in the hung curds or the homemade yoghurt and whip one last time.

Step 3: Divide in the serving bowls and chill it.

Step 4: Garnish with pomegranate beads before serving.

TIPS:

·         There is a lot of room for creativity with this dessert. You can just play with available and favorite flavours.
·         I have also tried with paneer and some milk instead of yogurt.

Payathamparuppu Ukkali

Ukkali is a traditional sweet that tamil people used to prepare for important occasions like when a marriage alliance is fixed and mainly for Karthigai deepam. The original version of ukkali is made with rice, jaggery and lots of oil. I had prepared a simple yet tasty and healthy version of ukkali which my amma had taught when I had guests at home sometime back.

Serves: 4

Preparation Time: 15 minutes (Excludes soaking time)

Cooking Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

1. Moong dal - 2 cup

2. Salt - 1 pinch

3. Baking soda - 1 tsp

4. Oil - 1 tbsp

5. Ghee - 1 tbsp

6. Sugar - 2 cup

7. Cashew - 2 tbsp

8. Cardamom powder - 1 tsp

Method:

Step 1: Wash and soak the moong dal for 2 hours. Grind with minimum water into a smooth paste.

 Step 2: Mix oil, baking soda, salt and mix well. Pour into idly plates and steam cook them for 5-10 minutes.

 Step 3: Let the idlies cool down to normal temperature. Then break them into small pieces and whip them in a dry mixer jar few times not doing for more than two seconds per trip. You'll get a soft powdery consistency now. Repeat for all idlis and collect them in a bowl.

Step 4: Heat ghee, fry broken cashews and take the cashews in a bowl. 

Step 5: Add powdered sugar (my mom uses sugar crystals but I powder it), crushed dal idlies, cardamom powder and mix gently in low heat for not more than 2 minutes else they'll form halwa.

Step 6: Garnish with fried cashew nuts and serve warm.

Carrot Halwa

I don't think there is anyone of us who is not fond of this delicious dessert. There are several versions of carrot halwas like low calorie ones, with milk or without milk, micro-oven or stove cooked, steamed carrots or boiled carrots... how ever they make it, I will just delve into it. Hot carrot halwa and plain vanilla ice-cream are both a sweet married couple; having them together executes a wonderful explosion inside the mouth.

Ingredients:

1.       Carrot grated – 2 cups

2.       Milk – 1 cup

3.       Sugar – ½ cup

4.       Cardamom powder – ½ tsp

5.       Cashew nut – 2 tbsp

6.       Ghee – 5 tbsp

Method:

Step 1: In a non-stick pan roast the cashew nuts in ghee; pour and keep it aside

Step 2: In the same pan place the grated carrot & milk and let it cook for 10 -15 minutes covered and in low flame; stir occasionally.

Step 3: Once the carrot is cooked and milk absorbed, add sugar and cardamom powder and stir well for 2 minutes.

Step 4: Once the moisture in the halwa is gone, spoon the ghee and stir in cashews. Serve hot.

Carrot Cake

This is a very daring step in terms of baking, that I took when I baked a carrot cake using jaggery and that tooo with whole wheat flour and that toooo with just 2 spoons of butter :)

It did not turn out so well and not in any way comparable to a fluffy, light, floury cake. But I think it serves the purpose of some dessert for a sweet toothed person like my husband. It was a however a sweet, hard and dark cake minus the glamour of spongy cakes.

Ingredients:

1.Wheat flour - 2 cups
2. Grated carrot - 2 cups
3. Jaggery - 1 1/2 cups
4. Water - 1 1/2 cups
5. Cinnamon powder - 1 tsp
6. Baking powder - 2 tsp
7. Raisins - 2 tbsp
8. Salt - 1/2 pinch
9. Sugar for sprinkling on top (optional)

Method:

Step 1: Dissolve jaggery in water, filter it and then boil them with the grated carrot until the carrot is soft. Turn off heat and let it cool down.

Step 2: Add cinnamon powder raisins, salt and mix well.

Step 3: Preheat the oven or cooker without washer. Grease a cake tin with butter and dust with some flour.

Step 4: Fold in the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.
Step 5: Pour the cake batter into the cake tin and place it inside the oven/ cooker.

Step 6: Depending on the thickness and your mode of baking it takes time. I experience that it takes more time than the usual cake as wheat flour and jaggery makes it time consuming.
Step 7: Once the cake's aroma fills the house, you can start checking periodically by inserting toothpick or a knife for readiness.

Step 8: Once does turn off heat, take out the cake tin and let it cool down before taking it out and cutting.

Step 9: Dust powdered sugar or just sprinkle crystal sugar on top before serving.